Chants of “United Mexico will never be defeated” and “Go away Trump” were among the slogans adopted as marchers proudly waved the Mexican flag and demanded respect for Mexico and its citizens.
“We are here to reject Donald Trump, to reject the idea of the wall and to support Mexican citizens who are working hard in the United States because they could not find good conditions of life in Mexico,” young lawyer and protester Emiliano Montes de Oca told Anadolu Agency. The peaceful marches organized by 80 organizations such as Amnesty International, the National University of Mexico and the United Mexican States Against Corruption and Impunity, were not lead by any political party.
Marchers demanded Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto respect human rights in Mexico but also fight corruption whenever he meets with Trump and they said they expect a stronger and more energetic response from the government in the face of the new American administration. “President Pena Nieto has not been blunt with Trump and that is why we must demonstrate today and denounce Trump's racist policies,” Lydia Segovia told Anadolu Agency. At the end of the march, protesters in the various cities coordinated the simultaneous singing of the national anthem in a show of unity and strength.
Relations between the U.S. and Mexico plunged to their lowest point in decades after Trump took office Jan. 20 and shortly thereafter signed two executive actions that ordered the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and he insisted Mexico would pay for the project. Pena Nieto immediately canceled a Jan. 31 trip to Washington.
Trump threatened to renegotiate and scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, and impose a 35 percent tariff on products such as vehicles made in Mexico. He also announced plans to deport 6 million undocumented immigrants.